Bachmann told Faith & Liberty Host Dave Garrison that there is an effort underway to “do away with statutory rape laws,” so that “adults would be able to freely prey on little children sexually. That’s the deviance that we’re seeing embraced in our culture today.”

The only concerns that have been raised about statutory rape laws is that they unfairly discriminate against same-sex couples. Many states have a “Romeo and Juliet” exception that protects young people who engage in a sexual relationship with someone under the age of consent but who is still close in age, such that a 17-year-old would not be convicted of statutory rape for having sex with a 15-year-old, even though the 15-year-old would not be allowed to legally consent. But many of these state laws only apply to different-sex couples, so a same-sex couple that is similar in age would be more vulnerable to prosecution, jail, and sex-offender status, just because of their sexual orientation.

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